Class, stop monkeying around! Chinese zoo opens a performing school for macaques
A Chinese zoo has opened what might be the world’s most unusual entertainment school.
Around 30 snow monkeys have been recruited by the Yellow River Delta Zoo in Dongying, eastern China, to study in its newly formed ‘macaques performing school’, reported People’s Daily Online.
The monkeys, originally from Japan, are expected to learn tricks, such as walking on stilts and mathematics, and will be sent around China after their training to enter the entertainment industry.
According to reports, the monkey school, which opened on September 24, is the first of its kind in China.
All of its students are snow monkeys, or Japanese macaques.
They normally dwell in extremely cold climates where the landscape is covered with snow during much of the year.
At the monkey school, they receive daily ‘academic’ as well as physical training.
This helps them learn tricks such as multiplication and doing somersaults.
It’s not known how long the monkeys will train for but they will move on to zoos and circuses around the country where they will perform for the public.
There has been an increased use of monkeys in China in recent years.
Most recently, China reportedly trained monkeys to remove birds’ nests from trees to ensure flight safety.
